Toy pistol



C. L. BUNTEN Sept. 7, 193 7.

TOY PISTOL Filed April 2, 1936 mm w' fl H, l wmu un dnm w llIIIIIHIIIIIIIWIM|IHEHIWIM .I: u WW A i n w| 1 TI; l Qx Jaye/6Z0]? 241/05 L fiu/v TE/V Patented Sept. 7, 1937 UNITED STATS TOY PISTOL Claude L. Bunten, Rawlins, Wyo., assignor to Anna L. McNulty, Rawlins, Wyo.

Application April 2, 1936, Serial No. 72,434

6 Claims.

My present invention is an improvement in toy pistols of the type disclosed in my prior Letters Patent No. 1,484,930, dated February 26, 1924 and No. 1,568,999, dated January 12, 1926.

5 The present structure relates to the means for guiding the shot or pellet carrier, and the improvement concerns the provision of meansfor I permitting a relative movement of one of the guides or tracks on which the carrier moves to- 1 wards the other guide or track, which movement permits of a precise adjustment of the structure so that the spacing of the guides may be accurately regulated or adjusted for the most efficient operation of the pistol.

To accomplish this improvement I prefer to form one guide or track separate from and of lighter and more flexible material than the other portions. of the pistol (including the other guide or track), and I mount the ends of this lighter 20 guide upon suitable spring arms or lugs that are adapted to be bowed by readily operated tightening elements for the purpose of, bodily adjusting the end portions of this guide towards or away from the opposing guide.

The arrangement which I have herein disclosed is quite simple in construction and is' found to be very eifective in performing the functions intended for it. As a result a pistol toy is provided that has increased accuracy in use.

An object of my invention is to provide a toy pistol that is novel as well as simple in construction, and is made of sturdy and dependable parts so that it will readily withstand abuse and hard usage. Further, the device is made of parts 35 that are capable of ready assembly so that the cost of manufacture may be materially reduced. Numerous other objects and advantages will appear after the construction and operation of my improvement is better understood from the following description which is to be taken in connection with the accompanying drawing that forms a part of this specification.

In the drawing:--

Figure 1 is a longitudinal side elevation of the 45 toy pistol showing my improvements incorporated therein.

| Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view at the muzzle of the pistol and drawn to an enlarged scale.

Figure 3 is an end view of the muzzle of the pistol, also drawn to an enlarged scale to more clearly illustrate the construction.

' Figure 4 is a longitudinal sectional view, similar to Figure 2 at the breech of the pistol.

Figure 5 is a horizontal section on line 5'5 of Figure 3.

Figure 6 is a transverse sectional view on line 3 6-6 of Figure 1 and enla ed.

The drawing is to be understood as being 60 somewhat schematic and is for the purpose of disclosing a typical or preferred embodiment of my improvements, and in this drawing I have employed like reference characters to identify like parts wherever such parts appear in the different views.

In general, the present pistol is constructed similar to that contemplated in my prior Patent No. 1,568,999, and comprises a barrel, the outer end portion 5 or muzzle of which is cylindrical in shape as is also the breech or butt end portion 6, while there are Wide elongated openings 5 extending longitudinally along its sides. The barrel is formed from a suitable gauge of sheet metal that is bent the desired shape. An integral hand grip 8 depends from the butt end of the barrel and there is an open trigger guard 9 extending forward from said grip. One of the guides or tracks preferably the upper guide it], is formed integrally with the upper segment of the barrel and extends from end to end thereof with its rear end closed by the circular end plate H which also closes the adjacent end of the barrel. The muzzle end of the guide It is closed by a removable plug l2 that is provided with an upstanding lug l3 which provides the forward member of the gun-sight as shown in Figure 1.

The upper guide or track IE! is hollow and substantially cylindrical in cross section to provide a magazine in which the pellets or shot are deposited upon removal of the plug l2. It is preferred to produce the hereinbefore described structure which includes the barrel, grip, guard, upper guide, etc., from a single piece of sheet metal of a relatively heavy gauge so that it will withstand the abuse and hard usage to which a toy is usually subjected. This produces a comparatively rigid article of manufacture that is quite sturdy and will not bend or become distorted unless subjected to imusual pressure. The lower edges of the portions of the metal blank that forms the cylindrical barrel are bent downward parallel to each other, thus providing radially projecting flanges M, which flanges as seen in Figures 3 and 6 are side-by-side and spaced from each other, and they extend from the muzzle to A the forward edge of the trigger guard 9 as shown in Figure 1.

At the butt of the pistol there are somewhat similar flanges l5 that are irregular in shape and extend between the extreme rear end of the cylindrical barrel and the rear edge of the grip 8. One flange at each end of the barrel has a threaded aperture to engage with the threads of the adjusting bolts l6 and Ill and the opposing flanges are provided with unthreaded alining.

apertures to receive the shanks of said bolts so that the heads of these bolts will engage the outer surfaces of the respective flanges near the ends of the latter.

Thus by tightening or loosening the bolts Iii-l! the side-by-side flanges at the respective ends of the barrel may be adjusted toward or away from each other, the purpose of which will appear later herein.

The carrier l8 which receives and discharges the pellet or small lead-shot (from the magazine in the upper guide 10) reciprocates on upper and lower guides in the barrel, and it is propelled towards the muzzle end of the barrel by an elastic element l9, such as an ordinary rubber band of the desired size. The end loops of the rubber-band are engaged with suitable posts 20 that are preferably stamped out of opposite sides of the cylindrical wall of the barrel adjacent the muzzle, and the intermediate portion of the rubber-band is passed through a vertical slot 2| in the carrier.

The upper portion of the carrier It has a longitudinal recess to engage with the upper guide ID that is formed integral with the barrel, while a corresponding recess in the bottom of the carrier engages a lower guide 22 that is not made integral with the blank forming the upper guide, barrel, grip, etc., hereinbefore first described. The lower guide, however, is anchored at its ends to the barrel in the manner shown.

This lower guide comprises a strip or length of sheet metal, that may be of thinner gauge than the main or body blank of the pistol, and it is formed into a partial cylinder as will be seen in Figures 3 and 6 so as to leave a longitudinal gap or elongated slot 23 in the lower segment. The edge portions of this metal blank are. bent outwardly to provide longitudinally extending and oppositely disposed supporting flanges 24 that project oblique or tangent to the cylindrical wall portion to rest upon the adjacent inner surface of the barrel. At their extreme forward and rear ends the flanges are provided lateral arms 25 that are curved or bowed in order to contact the adjacent surfaces of the barrel, and said arms are securely anchored in position by solder, or by welding, or in any other suitable manner.

The construction and mounting of the lower guide 22 is somewhat elastic, yielding or springlike, so that the drawing together of the barrel flanges M or 15 will bow the mounting elements of the guide in an upward direction towards the other or top guide Ill in substantially the manner suggested by the dotted lines in Figure 3. The bolts l6 and H may be independently manipulated in order that adjustment may be accomplished for one end of the guide without disturbing the relation of the parts at the other end of said guide.

This manner of mounting and adjustment permits persons using the toy to readily set the guides in proper parallel relation without the employment of special tools or implements, and further, it insures greater accuracy in the use of the pistol for target practice or other pastimes.

The construction and operation of the trigger portion of the pistol is substantially the same as that disclosed in my above mentioned prior Patent No. 1,568,999, and it need not be set forth herein since it forms no part of my present improvements.

What I claim is:

1. In a toy pistol a cylindrical barrel, a carrier reciprocable therein, a fixed guide-member for said carrier, a movable guide member opposite said fixed guide-member, yieldable transverse arms adjacent the ends of said movable guidemember, and means for bowing said arms whereby to adjust said movable guide-member towards said fixed guide-member.

2. In a toy pistol a cylindrical barrel, a carrier reciprocable therein, a fixed guide-member for said carrier, a movable guide member opposite said fixed guide-member, yieldable transverse arms adjacent the ends of said movable guidemember, and separate means at opposite ends of said barrel for bowing said arms whereby to adjust said movable guide-member towards said fixed guide-member.

3. In a toy pistol a barrel of sheet-metal that is shaped substantially cylindrical in cross-section and provided at each end of the barrel with side-by-side spaced members projecting radially from said barrel, a fixed guide in said barrel, a movable guide in said barrel opposite the fixed guide, a carrier reciprocable on said guides, transverse spring arms at the ends of said movable guide and secured to said barrel to bridge the space between radially projecting members, and means at each end of the barrel for moving said members towards and from each other whereby to bow said arms and adjust said movable guide justable guide towards and from said fixed guide. I

5. In a toy pistol a cylindrical barrel, a carrier slidable longitudinally therein, a guide having fixed relation to said carrier and barrel, a second guide opposing said fixed guide, a pair of lateral arms at each end of said second guide, means at an end portion of said barrel for moving an arm of the adjacent pair of arms with respect to its companion arm to thereby bodily move the adjacent portion of the second guide with respect to the fixed guide, and separate means at the other end portion of said barrel for moving an arm of the adjacent pair of arms with respect to its companion arm to thereby bodily move the adjacent portion of the second guide with respect to the fixed guide.

6. In a toy pistol a cylindrical barrel, a carrier slidable longitudinally therein, a guide having fixed relation to said carrier and barrel, a second guide opposing said fixed guide, a pair of oppositely disposed laterally extending spring arms at the muzzle portion of said fixed guide, means for moving said arms toward and from each other to thereby bodily move the muzzle portion of the second guide toward and from the muzzle portion of the fixed guide, a second pair of oppositely disposed laterally extending spring arms at'the breech portion of said fixed guide, and means for moving said second pair of arms toward and from each other to thereby bodily move the breech portion of the second guide toward and from the breech portion of said fixed guide independently of the muzzle portion of the latter.

CLAUDE L. BUNTEN. 

